Supporting Multiple Methods of Outreach in the Local Congregation

8/9/2019 Supporting Multiple Methods of Outreach in the Local Congregation

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Supporting Multiple Methods of Outreach in the Local Congregation

Written by Mark Carr , Jon Ciccarelli, Ken Curtis, Jon Paulien

Standing in the church lobby, we watched hundreds of people streaming out the door of the

sanctuary, though we recognized few faces. The Easter musical sponsored by the Calimesa,

California, Seventh-day Adventist Church had wored again! our third year of the musical "three

performances over two days# drew more than $,%&& attendees.

'ut can you really call offering musicals to your community evangelism( )r have we defined

evangelism too narrowly( *s it a lowering of our evangelistic heritage to offer the community a

theatrical representation of our full message( Arguably the musical was +ust thata staged

presentation of our message! the great controversy story on stage in word "narrators#, song "a

choir#, and choreography "scripted movement#. The musical told the Adventist metanarrative the

great controversy between od and Satanthrough the words, songs, and movements

performed by more than / characters and a live band. 'y all accounts, it was a magnificent

performance, in part because of the visually creative and stunning costuming wor.

0ow do we wrap our minds around types of evangelism that do not fall into the traditional public

evangelistic patterns( 1erhaps the concept of outreach is more accurate. )utreach can be a lotlie traditional evangelism, but it is not necessarily the same thing. 2hat are the goals of

traditional

evangelism and outreach, and how can a church embrace both(

Eangelis! and outreach

The goals of traditional evangelism can be e3pressed in a two-part perspective, both designed to

fulfill the reat Commission! first, the aim is to spread the good news of Christ4s salvation so

that others can hear and accept 0is call5 second, most often there is a tangible blessing for

members who are involved in traditional evangelism. This positive e3perience for church

members can be a good argument for holding traditional evangelistic meetings, even when the

new converts are few.


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decided to charge %& dollars "the current rate for community college classes in California# and

provide assignments for those attending. *nstead of spending money on advertising, the church

created a 2eb site, ran off ine3pensive posters and flyers, and relied on the members to develop

the interest.

2e are now in the second year of the program. 2ould we do it again( 2e have learned a number

of things. )n the positive side, more than 9&& people registered for the class on the 2eb. A

number of relatives and friends of members are attending. )pening night registrations included

about $/ wal-ins from the community "drawn by personal invitations and a banner created

ine3pensively by one of the pastors#. So far two people impacted by the meetings have +oined the

Seventh-day Adventist Church. 'ut perhaps the biggest result is a renewed enthusiasm within the

church for the prophetic message of Seventh-day Adventism. )n the other hand, if we were to do

this again, a shorter period "such as three to nine months# would wor better than $; months, and

we would want to do a better +ob of tracing attendees than we have done.

)n another level, more in line with the second goal of evangelism and outreach noted above, this

approach also sees to address the way people form lasting life commitments and sustained

relationships with others. 2e now that the people we are most liely to retain after traditional

evangelistic events are those who have developed relationships with other people in our

community of faith. 6urthermore, one or teacher of the course, is a member of our church

helps develop these positive relationships. The members of the course can attend church and see

the evangelist and his or her family as a regular part of our congregation. Seeing the message of

the course lived in the life of the church is an added value. The challenging and yet low pressure

style of the presentations allows people time to process what they are hearing in an unrushed

manner, and to get to now people5 thus, by the time the series is over, if they have not done so

already, they can mae decisions about becoming part of a community they now, based on a

message that has had time to sin in.


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Lifestyle eangelis!

)ne of the hazards of evangelistic strategizing is the trap of thining that evangelism is primarily

results, rather than a way of life that reflects the priorities of ?esus, regardless of the results.

?esus e3tended healing to ten lepers5 only one returned to say Than @ou. ?esus liely would

have done the same, even if that one had not returned, because evangelism is not defined wholly

by results but by the life of faith e3tended to others.

)ne of the ways this taes place at Calimesa is in the support we provide to the 0ouse of

ecision, a nonBSeventh-day Adventist residential ministry that taes in people who need a new

start. 7any are women and their children who escaped violence and abuse. )thers have lost +obs

and have nowhere to go. )thers have been through crises, some even self-induced. 'ut for those

willing to connect with od, this provides a transitional place to put their lives bac together.

The 0ouse of ecision is a faith-based ministry operating solely on donations. The Calimesa

church is honored to share with them through financial support, counseling services, and routine

invites for them to +oin us during special programs. Some of our church members have directly

benefited from their ministry, not to mention that a resident of the 0ouse of ecision has shown

an interest in baptism.

Another time we adopted a local mobile home community and, in con+unction with our church

school, helped many of the residents. Some had health problems that limited their mobility, and

so we would clean up and care for their yards, mae repairs on their homes, and so on. Some

residents have developed close relationships with church members who served, and the contact

continues long after we completed the pro+ects there.

2e are currently involved in helping to provide a community garden. 2e provide a half acre of

space from some property owned by the church and, in con+unction with the local Chamber of

Commerce, offer the space for many families to grow vegetables that will help supply their

nutritional needs. This has given us the opportunity to develop relationships all through the

community, which sees us as people who are willing to serve.


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Music !inistry

The Calimesa Community Concert Series is a tradition in and of itself. 'ecause of the dedication

of one family, our church has, through the tenure of many pastors, offered the ministry of

Christian music. 6or 9 years, the Calimesa Community Concert Series has averaged si3

concerts per year, offered primarily in our church sanctuary, but occasionally held in our church

school auditorium or in other churches. The premier event each and every year is the Christmas

concert, which is offered twice on 6riday evening and once on Sabbath afternoon. 2hile the

musicians "and musical style# have varied throughout the years, the aim of the ministry has been

to bring nonBSeventh-day Adventists into our church in a nonthreatening way. The musicians are

primarily and purposefully nonBSeventh-day Adventists. The gift of music can be celebrated

across denominational cultures and the crossover blessing is substantial. ot only have scores of

community members written letters of appreciation, but the relationships that we have developed

with these musicians has been encouraging as well.

The musical guests are well-nown local, national, and international stars. *n most cases,they did

not now much about us, but, after responding to our invitation and getting to now us in person,

they have been e3ceedingly positive. Certainly, these relationships help brea down barriers. 2e

must show our wider community that Christianity, Seventh-day Adventist Christianity in

particular, is neither a cult nor a sectarian oddity. 1eople have come to now us in a way that is

focused on a broader message of celebrating those aspects of Christ that all people can

appreciate. *n addition to those who come e3plicitly to hear our professional guests, others now

come because the concerts have become a family tradition. 2hether or not they have any

connection to Adventism, they come because the concert series is a community tradition.

%ra!a !inistry& "he Easter !usical

As noted above, attendance at the third annual Easter musical was stellar. *n the second year, we

added a third performance5 this year, we purposefully put the third performance on Sunday

morning. The hope was that we would draw even more people from the community to attend on


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the actual day of Easter. 2e targeted those who might routinely loo for a place to attend a

religious service on this special occasion. "2e put a general advertisement into the local

newspaper toward that end.# Some in your church may not be inclined to engage in outreach on

Easter weeend, but our strategy is to reach our community with the least threatening and

combative form of outreach possible. 2e solicited audience responses to the musical through

specially printed cards included in the program bulletin.

The musical was about the story of salvation, emphasizing that our own personal stories are a

part of od4s storythe story of our entire universe. 2e ased on these response cards if

persons would lie to share their own stories with us, as a community of faith interested in how

we live out our part of od4s story. 2hile we have not received as many response cards as we

had hoped, those who did respond were positive and many re


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in their particular sections of town. As they have routine contact with our community members,

the attendance rates for all of these outreach modalities will surely increase. As these team

members get to now those in their districts, we can better focus our strategy to the needs of our

community as well.

At Calimesa, there is a comple3 blending of the twofold purpose of responding to the reat

Commission. The purposeful approach of the church as it responds to od4s calling to share 0is

message is paying rich dividends in the lives of those already in the church and those in the

community we serve.

Supporting Multiple Methods of Outreach in the Local Congregation

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